3 Transplant Patients Die of Rodent Virus Infection

An organ donor who was exposed to a common rodent virus, possibly from a hamster, passed the disease to four transplant patients, three of whom died, officials said Monday.

It was believed to be only the second documented case in which the viral infection LCMV was transmitted through an organ transplant.

A liver recipient and a double-lung recipient from Massachusetts and a kidney recipient from Rhode Island died a few weeks after the transplants of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus, which is associated with exposure to rodent waste, health officials said.

Another Rhode Island patient who received a kidney is recovering.

The infection was traced to the donor, a Rhode Island woman who had died of unrelated causes. Officials said at least one pet in the woman’s home, a hamster bought at a pet shop in Warwick, had tested positive for LCMV.

Two other people outside the U.S. received corneas. Officials from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said they were investigating where the corneas went.

CDC investigators were testing the dead hamster to confirm that it was the source of the virus.

“We believe the hamster was the source, but we can’t rule out a common house mouse,” CDC spokesman Dave Daigle said.

Health officials discovered the connection after a doctor at the Rhode Island hospital where one of the mid-April transplants occurred reported an unusual viral death. Investigators traced the death to the organ donor.

LCMV usually produces only flu-like symptoms in humans. It has also been associated with neurological illness and miscarriage.

In this case, the transplant recipients received large doses of medication that suppressed their immune systems, allowing the virus to thrive, state Health Department Director David Gifford said.